Fate's Catalyst
by The Divine Shadow of Death
Summary: If fate presented you with something you didn't like, would you accept it or find it's catalyst? Formerly Teal Isn't Just a Color. In-Depth Non-Cleched T5 fic. ::2nd chapter - 21504 ::
1. Part :: Prologue

  
  
  
  
**Fate's Catalyst   
Formerly Teal Isn't Just a Color**

It's been a while hasn't it, everyone? I'm sorry it took me so long to come up with my complete revision and rewrite, but hopefully you will be rewarded with my latest effort. If you had read the original Teal Isn't Just a Color, you will notice drastic differences in the storyline – I redid EVERYTHING. 

By the way, I got a new computer for Christmas, which means my writing process won't be slowed due to a snail-ish processor ::kicks 1995 Pentium I::. My parents showed me so they can torment me with it... So now it's sitting under the tree unwrapped where I can stare at it but not touch... How utterly wrong... 

Please read, please review. I want to know what you think regardless of your views on my story. If you hated this chapter, let me know and tell me what I could do to fix it – constructive flames help. If you liked it and just want to say so, that's fine as well. 

This fic is based off the final events of T4 and continues into the next tournament with original characters abound (almost 20 actually ^.^;;;). ::watches 90% of readers run away screaming in terror:: If you don't like this kind of thing leave now so I don't have to listen to you complain later. 

**Warnings:** Dark, angst, reference to rape, language, and of course violence. 

Thanks and I hope you're not disappointed.   
  
  
  
**Devine Shadow   
こくえいです**   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~   
**Fate's Catalyst :: Prologue   
うんめいしょくばい :: じょしょう**   
~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~ 

  
  
  
  
**...January 23rd 2006...**   
Four years prior the fourth Iron Fist Tournament...   
  
  
  
_"Sorry to interrupt your scheduled program but we have just received Breaking news. Several hours ago President of the Mishima Zaibatsu, Mishima Heihachi, was found dead in his Tokyo mansion. At approximately 8:27 AM Mishima was found with a gunshot wound to the head and a Colt revolver in his hands. Paramedics officially pronounced him dead on the scene. After inspection, the incident has been declared a suicide without probable cause and no evidence of foul play has been found. Stay tuned for further updates on this national..."_   
  
  
  
As the announcement drew to a close, a butcher's knife was thrown at the set with enough force to shatter the device to pieces. In a dying crackle the once-television forced it's last words... or word...   
  
  
  
_"traged..............y..."_   
  
  
  
It sparked frantically then promptly fell into oblivion where those cursed words belonged... Those who knew drew memories out of the darkest recesses of their minds without desire... Something they hoped to forget and tried to forget... 

They all quieted and silently hoped this day would never come... Ones doubts curdled at the very thought and chance of it actually happening... 

Amazing how only a thought and a memory can raise fear in the eye of the beholder... Clearly making one edgy at something that related to the matter... Even small words... Would attempt to seduce the thought out only to be held at bay once more in an attempt to quell the fear... Yet it was important enough to remain, waiting to be revived... Waiting to strike once one almost overcame...   
  
  
  
_Despite this it STILL was real... and slowly ate you alive._   
  
  
  
Arm poised limply and randomly sliced in places from glass shrapnel, a woman stood unfazed in front of the shattered mess... She tried to run from it... nearly accomplishing what was intended... 

Her gaze thickened and with brown eyes far from agape... 

She was someone who shouldn't have cared this much – who should have just said 'that's a shame' and continued with her life in the rat race known as life. A house with a white picket fence where she could raise her daughter in peace and grow old only to die without a care... But alas, she was not so fortunate to lead such a minuscule life such as that...   
  
  
  
_ She HAD to be involved.   
She HAD to know something.   
And sadly, she HAD to accept what it was... THEY had to accept...   
  
  
  
And somehow it HAD to be this way... And WAS this way... _   
  
  
  
The woman lowered her injured appendage and grasped it at the wrist by with her uninjured hand, allowing the blood to dribble onto the eggshell carpeting and her blue apron... As if it didn't matter to her... Nothing did anymore... All because she had stopped running... 

He expression remained unaffected as she let go of her false hopes and let fate take hold... 

"So, What took you... Kazuya?"   
  
  
  


~^*~^*~^*~ 

  
  
  
  
**...June 23rd 2013...**   
Seven years prior the 'murder' of Mishima Heihachi...   
  
  
  
This day was a normal day in a small Christian cemetery on the outskirts of Kyoto. 

Another body was lowered into the ground as a group of spectators wished the best for them in the afterlife, all-wishing eternal joy and happiness as well as freedom from the hardships of life - A reward for all taken and given. Hopes for that person to have a better life there and many more opportunities... 

The pastor spoke reassuring words that all was well and this person indeed had a good heart... However no one in the small group needed this reassurance – they already knew. 

He opened the bible and read a small passage then gave his thoughts on the dear woman that was being delivered today... 

"You were a kind and loving friend and mother who's kind warmth kept many aglow. You were wonderful in every way – unselfish, kind, strong willed, and gave what you had to help others. You were indeed a miracle blessed upon those whom you touched with your kind heart. Kageri Oyu, you will be missed. With god forever you may be. We love you." 

Several of her friends in life left roses on her black casket, whispering their final farewells and walking away in teary-eyed depression crying on the shoulders of their loved ones... 

And one stood out... 

A ten-year-old girl dressed in the color of death stood in the front row crying alone... She could only ask why... Why god took her mother - no, why her mother left her alone... And why the world hated her so much...   
  
  
  
_They thought of her as invisible to their eyes, but not to their words._   
  
  
  
They all had someone now to love them... But she was stranded… But now left to her own devices, and burned with envy. 

If you are young they all thought the same thing – you're a 'lost child who needs guidance and love in your loss'. That's a lie – the younger you are the stupider they assume you are and more naive as well.   
  
  
  
_Don't worry, we're here to help.   
We'll take care of you now, so don't worry about a thing.   
It'll all be fine soon._   
  
  
  
She had no 'right' – she's a child and children can't be burdened with choices because they don't know how the world works. The adults knew what's right for her in the long run. They wouldn't let her have a single word in the matter – she was an object to be given to the highest bidder no matter their background. Money was money, and everyone knew the government craved it...   
  
  
  
_Three words.   
Corruption, death, and greed.   
  
  
  
And that was what they were made of._   
  
  
  
Earthly possessions were now nothing they told her. Only 'life' and 'moving on' mattered now... The only thing they let her keep was a wretched black box with pink ribbon holding it shut. She had to make a scene just to keep it. What was really sad was that she didn't even know what was in the damn thing; she would have left it if her heart didn't reach out for it. 

She remembered the conversation they had like it was yesterday... It was the only thing that was ever really asked of her...   
  
  
  
_She was five and Just out of the blue her mother asked her an odd question... _

"You know that box I told you to never ever open? The one in the back closet?" 

The she was coloring a scribbled picture of a pony and spoke at the same time, "Yes mommy... Why?" 

Her mother crouched down and ruffled her chocolate hair with her hand. Her smile was very sweet, yet hollow in a way. "If something bad were ever to happen to me, not to say something will honey, the box is yours to open. Can you remember that for me?" 

She continued coloring the picture hastily and nodded sloppily as if it were something that bored her, "I can." 

Her mom's smile faded as she returned to her feet and took a few steps back, somewhat disappointed...   
"No matter what happens never let anyone else look at it. No matter how close to you they are. It's between us, ok?" 

She had a sudden interest and looked at her with sparkling hazel eyes, "You mean it's a secret!?" 

Her mother was startled and began giggling, "Yes, a secret." 

She rose from a tiny red chair and began dancing around her mother in circles. "I'll never ever ever tell anybody! Never ever ever! Mommy and I have a secret!"   
  
  
  
That's why she kept it – a promise between them and she wouldn't break something like that to her mother... It was one of the few times she looked truly happy, so why not?   
  
  
  
_All she really knew was that she going to be taken away once the first shovel of dirt was scattered across her mother's coffin... Her next step to becoming something she was unable to give words... _

All she could do now was wait and hope they'd ignore her like everyone else... But there was no waiting involved.   
  
  
  
Another family friend made his way towards her slowly from over the hill, and she already knew what he was going to say... She knew that she would never lay eyes on any of them again... She stared at him, silently, coldly, dreadfully... For the first time in her life she was terrified to the point of paralysis.   
  
  
  
_... But they would take her before that.   
  
  
  
... And everything came to her in quantities of three...   
  
  
  
"Genkai, they're here."_   
  
  
  


~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~   
**End :: Prologue   
おわり :: じょしょう**   
~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~ 

  
  
  
  
**First Draft:** December 22nd/23rd, 2003.   
**First Revision:** January 1st, 2004. 

So, did you like/hate? Are you completely lost? Please **review** and let me know! That includes you, lurkers!   
  
  
  


~^*~^*~^*~ 

**Glossary Thingy:**   
Definitions that were used in my word choice are underlined. I usually use nouns instead of traditional names for characters. 

**Genkai :: げんかい**   
1) strict guard; 2) strange or mysterious and troubling; 3) wordbook; dictionary; 4) limit; bound;

**Oyu :: おゆ** 1) hot water; bath   
(not chosen for definition - HINT HINT) 

**Kageri :: かげり**   
1) shadow or cloud (on someone's happiness); 2) shade; gloom

~^*~^*~^*~ 

**General Glossary:**   
Words used generally in all fiction. I'm surprised most of these mean NOTHING!   
Didn't feel like putting these in hiragana. 

**Zaibatsu:**   
1) financial clique 

**Mishima:**   
1) Mishima (surname) 

**Kazuya:**   
1) Kazuya (first name, m/f) 

**Heihachi:**   
1) Heihachi (first name, m) 

~^*~^*~^*~ 

  
  
  
  



	2. Part :: Ichi

  
  
**Fate's Catalyst   
Formerly Teal Isn't Just a Color**

Thanks for the reviews :) Review responses located at the end of this chapter (you know, the usual) 

I hope everyone had a happy/nice/wonderful/merry *insert holiday of choice here* and a Happy New Year. Sorry about the large amount of time between chapters due to lack of something to connect point A to point B. Be happy - I found a solution this time! Plus, I'm happy with myself - I can write fight scenes! WHEE! 

Bet you thought I gave up again, eh? Expect 1 to 2 months between chapters, and maybe a little sooner as well. I only write when I'm in a bad mood because things tend to come off more vividly XD. Believe me - I WILL finish this this time. 

Strangely, I cut this chapter off 400 words earlier than I was going to… I figured this would be a bigger, better, cliffhanger. So, technically, the next chapter will be out earlier. 

**Warnings:** Dark, angst, reference to rape, language, and of course violence. Rating will go up as the story ascends into darkness and it's own little rabbit hole. 

Thanks and I hope you're not disappointed.   
  
**Devine Shadow   
こくえいです**   
  


~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~   
**Fate's Catalyst :: Part 1   
うんめいしょくばい :: いち**   
~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~ 

  
  
**...July 15th 2019...**   
Seven years prior to the incident...   
Kyoto Underground Fighting Syndicate...   
  
Her leg swung around in a perfect equal motion, striking into the man's ribcage splintering each or all of the bones with little effort. Like a rag doll, his unconscious body slammed and sharply contorted into the cement at such a speed unmatched by a peregrine's dive. 

Unwavering and unnerved she pulled her body back into stance and stared at the worthless mangled mass lying there from the eyes of her Hannya mask. His blood flowed freely sinking into the uneven cracks beneath their feet and mingled with that of others whom shared his fate. 

This made the crowd roar with a sadistic happiness, and they wanted more. A number of shoddy speakers cracked and reverberated the outcome, as it always was; infinite. Nothing had changed or would ever change... 

"Round fifteen has been taken by miss Akuchi with ease! Another unparalleled victory!" 

Those words hadn't even reached her ears… She knew what was going to be said, and there was no need to hear them once more. 

Instead, she glared at the man that she herself had cut down in a single strike… She viewed through unfeeling glass eyes, and the eyes behind them also unfeeling and neutral in intent.   
  
_ Things were equal in kind.   
He was in his desired place and all was well.   
However what was this desired place?  
That's quite easy, It was obstacle to another.  
But what does an obstacle such as this desire?_

No matter.   
The need to be cut asunder by those WHOM desire.   
  


***** 

  
  
**...October 3rd 2013...**   
Three months after Genkai was placed in government custody...   
  
Over the crest of that cemetery hill came her worst fear and apparent future - two civil servants. Both laden in black, angels of despair, sent to drag her into a hell made just for those unlucky to have equal or near circumstances.   
  
_ And all her supposed friends let them take her as she stood there in absolute fear… _

They wanted her to suffer, didn't they?   
Or maybe it was because they had not suffered in kind.   
Or maybe because they were afraid of taking responsibility. 

The fact remained, and when it all boiled down, they left her to rot.   
  
So here it is, the very thing that irked the marrow in her very bones and coagulated blood… Her assumed hell for the past three months of her life, and with all her luck combined, for the rest of it as well. For now, and forever, she would remain a statistic and a number for the government's silent infractions and blatant ignorance. 

Her home was now that thing of a cardboard box called and orphanage in the slums of Kyoto… An obscure fabrication of the social ladder and a neglected reformation.   
  
_ Such wonder and genius held by organized government society in this millennium… _

So smart in their political markets and bid wars in order to maintain peace and prevent unorganized chaos… And what is our price? 

Simply to be left in the dark and be led to believe anything that enters our ears.   
  
To someone better off it would be something only to be acknowledged in movies and on television, yet ignored when placed right under once eyes and face. Eyes do make contact and brains draw conclusions, yet conscience is preferable to naiveté even when jadedness is deathly apparent. It is so sad and depressing, yet no one wants to take responsibility and they choose to shove it into the cracks and crevices of their hidden subconscious. 

Simple as this. 

The mind strives to constantly maintain one thing… 

Denial.   
  
_ Those who wish not to encounter the truth and continue living sad, little lies as well as accept anything they hear as true… lackeys of the machine… _

And even worse… they will fight to the death to prove that there is, at least ,an inkling of truth in such distorted frauds.   
  
One could only hope for something more than this… For someone to break the chains of government propaganda and do something for those with no fortune… Especially those who have witnessed the dreaded system of government creation… At least, those who chose not to deny and choose to differentiate fact from fallacy. 

Three words that would haunt her for the rest of her life…   
_Corruption, death, and greed._

She sat with porcelain gaze locked on her sole possession… The slightly dented black box with a pink ribbon in now stringy tatters tying it shut… Her only connection to her life before this hell and hopefully her life in the future… Maybe it was something that would help her find her mothers family or learn more about the past… Probably old diaries, letters, photographs, and keepsakes…   
  
_ Her mother had acted strangely when they spoke about it… _

Could it be something more than just that?   
What if I don't want to know what's in here?   
Or what if it is something I don't like or don't want to like? 

These thoughts remained securely sealed in the back of her mind and they lead her to fear it… 

and…   
  
She dealt with this dread as she had tried to deal with everything else on this world that was associated with her… She ran away from it.   
  
_ …She had never opened the box. _   
  
She turned her eyes from it and sat it down next to her on sheets as tattered as itself. Despite how much she didn't want to know about it… She still wanted console or something firm to keep a grasp on… 

Even though, it still ran through her mind…   
  
_What… if?_   
  
She struggled to shake the thought off, and put the source of her confusion back under her bed where it resided and belonged - out of mind and out of sight.   
  
_ And with her bad luck, she forgot to remain aware of her surroundings and completely forgot about stability in vigilance… _   
  
"Hey." 

She temporarily froze in her movements, shocked. 

The boy gave an answer to her immobile functions, "I see you have something" He cocked his head slightly to the side, looking into the immediate direction of the door, "I won't tell... Well, that only applies unless you don't give it to me." 

She mentally cringed.   
  
_ Obviously, her critical mistake was made upon an encounter with someone much older and stronger than herself. _

And even better, she ignored that annoying little feeling of being watched. 

That wasn't all…   
They were the only souls in that very room…   
  
Her gaze thickened as she recovered from the apparent surprise he had so suddenly applied to her defenseless mind. Pivoting on her left knee and replacing the right, she shifted her weight to stare back at him. 

She glared into his eyes almost burning holes into his skull confident in her actions, even stranger, she was snickering slightly. "You'll have to go through me first" was her apt contradiction. 

Rising to her feet she made her intentions of standing her ground quite clear, and apparently he planned to defy her. She wouldn't be going down without a fight, even if it wasn't on just terms. 

To her chagrin, he made the choice to advance with a view of something much less than equality, and with her answer to justness…   
  
_ He totally slipped past her mental fort defense and artillery.   
And this is her punishment, as usual. _   
  
The sixteen year-old pulled out and flipped it into an ample position, finishing with a click…   
  
_ Twice as hard and dually terrible than the worst thing that even Satan himself found conceivably possible. _   
  
He snorted in malevolent nature, eyes covered in a foggy glaze… "I hope that isn't your final answer."   
  
_ Oh damn… _   
  
A switchblade…   
  


~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~   
**End :: Part 1   
おわり :: いち**   
~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~ 

  
  
**First Draft:** January 22nd/23rd, February 2nd, February 10th, February 14th/15th 2004.   
**First Revision:** Pending. 

So, did you like/hate? Are you completely lost? Please review and let me know! That includes you, lurkers!   
  


~^*~^*~^*~ 

  
  
**Glossary Thingy:**   
Definitions that were used in my word choice are underlined. I usually use nouns instead of traditional names for characters. 

**Akuchi :: あくち**   
1) Impure blood; 2) Marshland   
  


~^*~^*~^*~ 

  
  
**Japanese Custom Glossary:**   
Information on the customs I have researched and stuck in the fic to make it accurate in setting & place. 

**Hannya (はっんや) Mask:**   
Mask from the Japanese Noh plays. One of the several masks used for women, this one specifically represents a jealous and angry woman who became demon through those feelings and sought to attack as revenge. Has horns and sharp looking fangs - many westerners would recognize it if they see a picture. Sort of a female form of the original Yoshimitsu mask.   
  


~^*~^*~^*~ 

  
  
**Review Responses:**   
WHEE! 

**Forevermore:**   
Thanks for all your wonderful comments as usual. I'm happy to know you like it better than my last attempt. I was hoping people would be happier with it this time around - I tried as hard as I could to make a better storyline and close in all the gaps that made my story need braces to fix (lol). I have nearly ten pages of footnotes and plot elements in size 8 font. I hope it was worth the long wait to you :D 

**Baccus Cremaeus:**   
Thanks for liking it and commenting on my writing skills as well. You'll have to keep reading to find out what's going on - I know I'm evil :D 

**Tombaraidergirl:**   
Thank you as well :D   
I wouldn't question Kazzy's motives either, I think it's pretty clear and he's the kind of man to cover up his tracks. About the box… Well… I'm willing to give you a hint on that… Well, maybe not. Think of it as a diary or sorts… :D   
  


~^*~^*~^*~ 


End file.
